[Thalaba wakes on the evening of December 15th and her mind is immediately struck as if by lightening by a very strong vision. The vision is of a ceremony. There is a beautiful fair, woman and Mithras they are toasting on a platform above a crowd of people. The woman is wearing a black dress and appears to be mourning while she is celebrating. Mithras steps forward and declares "I would like to welcome Matriarch Salianna and formally thank her for still being willing to offer this alliance after the terrible tragedy that befell poor unfortunate Renier." The woman moves forward and nods, raising her glass "And the court of love would like to thank Prince Mithras for being so vigilant about bringing Renier's murderers to justice. And while it is a grim event, their execution this evening has proven his dedication to this alliance. We thank you." Her vision pans out of the room and outside are the charred corpses of five individuals that are staked through their chests to the grounds of the courtyard. Thalaba wakes several hours later and it is now, roughly, 9:30 PM.] <@Dreol> [London December 15th 1230, 9:30 PM] <@Dreol> [Eliana approaches Thalaba's haven. It is a large manor on the outskirts of town, on the opposite side of town from the Tremere chantry.] <@Dreol> [Begin.] 06* Eliana makes her way to the manor, candle lantern in hand. She's dressed as usual - which is to say, her heavy clothes and cloak are now appropriate for this sort of weather - with her hood covering her head. Slung cross-shoulder is a weathered leather bag. 06* Eliana walks up to the door and utilizes the knocker for its principal purpose: knocking! 06* Thalaba wakes from the powerful vision in time to hear the knocking at the front door. It was unusual for her to receive guests this late so she quickly pulled on a robe as she leaves her bed chambers. The door is answered by a servant who bows to Elaina "My Lady?" He asks politely, not yet inviting her in. 06* Eliana nods curtly to the servant. "I am here to deliver a message to Lady Thalaba. Is she available?" 06* Thalaba is at the top of the stairs by the time the servant answered the door and she heard Eliana. She calls out from where she is "Let her in Andrew.." She pulls her robe around herself a little more firmly before descending the stairs. It wasn't the way she was normally seen, in her sleep wear with her hair all wild from sleep. The servant nods to his Mistress and steps aside for Eliana. "Please come in." 06* Eliana does come in at that and looks around. 06* Thalaba ignores Andrew as he closes the door behind Eliana and does what every good servant does when they aren't needed.. disappears. Thalaba reaches the bottom of the stairs and reaches up to try to smooth down her hair a little " Eliana.. I wasn't expecting you." 06* Eliana glances at where Andrew once was, then focuses on Thalaba. "Circumstances have taken an unexpected turn." She reaches under her cloak and pulls out a scroll case with a rat painted on it. "This was left for you, at the entrance to your grounds." 06* Thalaba 's eyes widen for a moment at this news coming so quickly after her vision.. a vision she hasn't yet had a chance to examine closely. "Interesting.." She takes the case from Eliana and opens it as she asks "How rude of me to make you stand in the entry way, lets go to my sitting room... would you like something to drink? " 01 No. Thank you. 01 [The scroll contains the following: "Mission successful, meet at the place where we met before. -T"] 06* Thalaba reads the scroll and then looks at Eliana questioningly 06* Eliana continues once Thalaba finishes. "We met the Rat. He said that his contacts found a note between here and Chester from the Baron of Chester for one Gerard to kill Renier. We brought it to the Prince's attention, and he requested we find this Gerard and bring him back for questioning." 01 Moriel seems to know of this Gerard and believes him an unsavory sort of Brujah. A thug, it sounds like, and not particularly inventive in his methods. "I see.. so when are we going to find this Gerard?" 01 Chester. In theory. We have one month, and it takes the better part of twelve nights to get there. 06* Eliana glances Thalaba over: lack of dress, messy hair, and all. "So I suggest you dress and get your effects in order." 06* Thalaba nods slowly, clearly looking a little confused. "Does that mean the group plans to leave tonight?" She's not phased at all by the once over. She has a good idea of what she looks like just getting out of bed. 01 Yes. 06* Eliana switches in tone from business to vaguely annoyed: "The Prince deigned to give us a month, after all; we have little time to lose." 06* Thalaba frowns when she catches the annoyance in her tone. "Then maybe you shouldn't waste valuable time giving me useless information instead of answering my question." With a shake of her head she turns and heads back up the stairs to get ready.. not looking like she's rushing at all, though at the same time not going purposely slow either. 06* Eliana watches Thalaba go, her eyes narrowing. "I'll meet you at the farmhouse," she says, not raising her voice. "*Try* not to be unusually late." 06* Eliana whirls and leaves, the door closing firmly behind her. 06* Thalaba doesn't look back, calling out from the top of the stairs "I'll try." 06* Thalaba doesn't dillly dally at all though she is tempted to.. Instead gets dressed and gather's items she'll need in a bag before leaving to meet at the farmhouse.